Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

The Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya is now bronze and the pound-4-pound king Manny Pacquiao branded.

A 14-foot bronze statue of De La Hoya was unveiled on Monday in front of the Staples Center in Downtown. Meanwhile, not to be left short, this Saturday, Nike will unveil a special Pacquiao t-shirt to commemorate his match against the Golden Boy.

In front of a mid-afternoon sparse crowd, De La Hoya looked amazed the moment officials pulled the black cover to unveil the large statue. The 14-foot bronze statue shows De La Hoya with both arms raised up in victory standing on a corner rope.

“Wow. I think I’m going to have to grow my hair a little longer,” joked De La Hoya about the likeness of the statue.

De La Hoya, a Mexican-American born in East LA, joins other Los Angeles greats Ervin “Magic” Johnson and Wayne Gretzky as the only figures to have a statue in front of the Downtown arena.

“We believe this man has already earned iconic status in our community,” said Tim Leiweke, chairman of AEG, which owns and operates Staples Center. “We at Staples Center and LA Live are very proud to be able to go to work everyday [and] very proud of the 20 million people who will go through this campus everyday to honor who we consider one of the greatest leaders, entertainers and certainly one of the best boxers ever from this community.”

De La Hoya was almost in tears when he took the microphone. He spoke about how much the statue means to him but most importantly to the young kids who share his background.

“Never in my wildest dream did I ever imagine standing here and having my own statue next to the great Wayne Gretzky and Magic Johnson,” said De La Hoya. “Kids are going to see that [statue] and say ‘wow Oscar De La Hoya from East LA made it. He made it through a lot of hard work, with a lot of dedication and never giving up. Maybe one day I’ll have my own statue.’ That’s what this represents. All the kids that are going to walk, all the people going to the Staples Center it’s going to mean something special.”

Nike Pacquiao Shirts

In anticipation of the biggest bout in Pacquiao’s career, Nike, a Pacquiao sponsor, will honor the Filipino icon with a commemorative t-shirt to unveil this Saturday.

The t-shirt will only be available at the Nike Store At The Montalbán in Hollywood.